Biden publicly denies sexual assault allegation, says 'This never happened ... period'

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly addressed the sexual assault allegation against him by a former Senate staffer, saying they "aren't true."

The allegation is being made by former Senate aide Tara Reade, who in March publicly said the incident occurred in 1993 in the Senate office complex on Capitol Hill.

“I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago,” Biden said in part in a written statement released by campaign. “They aren’t true. This never happened.”

Biden later Friday addressed the issue on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

"No, it's not true," Biden said. "I'm saying unequivocally, it didn't happen. It never happened. I don't remember any type of complaint she might have made. It's been 27 years."

The Biden campaign issued a statement in early April denying the allegation, and several former Biden staffers have publicly defended the former senator and vice president.

Biden told MSNBC that he wasn't worried about the allegation ruining his White House bid.

"I'm not concerned about it at all," he said.

Though he repeatedly denied the allegations, Biden also repeatedly said he supports Reade's efforts to be heard.

"Every woman should come forward," he said in the roughly 18-minute TV interview. "They should be heard."

Biden said he will ask the National Archives to determine whether any record of such a complaint was filed. However, he repeated declined to open University of Delaware records related to his political career, saying there are no personnel records in that cache.